>> john mccain and i are a couple of mavericks and gosh darn it we are going to take that maverick energy right to washington and we are going to use it to fix this financial crisis. >> the real al gore was so stiff in his first debate. >> i will put medicare and social security in a lock box. >> reporter: the staff made him watch this. >> onef the keys to the lock box would be kept by the president. >> the real john mccain wandered around the stage when he debated obama. and so did "snl's" mccain. the parodies aren't just funny they matter. >> as many people will talk about the "skit" monday as will talk about the actual presidential debate. that's what makes it so powerful. >> reporter: afterall how can the real debate compete with something like this. >> i know the white house. i know the door out to the rose garden doesn't lock unless you pull it. i know that, i know that the toilet in the lincoln bedroom will run all night unless you jiggle that handle. >> reporter: jonathan karl, abc news. >> the strategery. >> oh, that was will farrell doing bush. dana carvey doing the first push.